I just visited this place the other day with a good friend of mine and we were both pleasantly surprised by the authenticity of the exhibits. We were both greeted at the front door by a lovely volunteer worker who was very passionate about the place and you could tell it was very close to her heart. Old Tailem town is a huge attraction with many things to see. (You could easily spend about 4 hours here having a proper look around.) It brought back some great memories of a `by-gone` era here in South Australia and I found a lot of things to reminisce over that reminded me of the old fashioned things that my grandma and grandpa used to own. (The only negative thing I could really say about this place is that there were a few exhibits that I wish we could have gone into, for example - the tram.) Although, you could go into most of them and this is quite a rarity these days. Overall, heaps of wonderful displays to look at and quite well done. My friend had read some online reviews before we had decided to go here and he felt that a lot of people were quite judgmental regarding the up-keep of the exhibits. i genuinely think people were missing the point of what this place is all about, as it is meant to be an `old abandoned ghost town`, and the charisma of the attraction left you believing that it was just that.

This place is truly big with lots to explore! In fact it is the biggest pioneer town in Australia and is a lot less busier than Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. You really feel like you've gone back in time here. There is a great collection of buildings, artifacts and vehicles (including an old rattler tram). Highly recommended.

Approximate cost: $22

This is now the largest pioneer village in Australia. It doesnt look much from the road, perhaps it could do with some sprucing up in this way, to attract people to stop.
But once you do, there is a whole old town of dozens of different buildings, from shops, railway stations, schools, blacksmiths, garages, hardware stores, POs and old farm homesteads, set along several streets. (over 110 buildings, apparently).
The buildings are all full of old articles from the early days, so that they are set up something similar to how they would have looked 70 to 100 years ago.
This is a real trip back in history. There are so many items on display, in each building, along the streets and sheds etc., it must be really hard to keep up with it all.
We went with a car club, and the old vehicles were allowed in and could be parked along the streets, near the old garage fuel pumps, in front of the old pub, or the garage etc. This really added to the character of the place, as well.
We all spent an enjoyable afternoon here, from the oldies reminiscing, through to the young kids, who were fascinated by some of the old items and the explanations of what life was like in the 'olden days'.
My son went with some friends to a nightime ghost tour they do here, and said they all had a good time. He said it was really eerie and spooky, just what they wanted!